My First Build - BitFenix Shinobi

dirtychinchilla

dirtychinchilla

dirtychinchilla

Soldato
Joined
2 May 2011
Posts
12,133
Location
Woking
Hello everyone,

This is my first build. It's currently pretty straightforward - no mods as yet - but in the near future hopefully I'll be spicing up this case.

Hardware (list added to as it has changed):

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
Corsair H50
Asus P8Z68-V PRO Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Windowed Case - BlackeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply
Intel 330 Series SSD 60GB
EVGA GTX 460 Superclocked 1GB and Gigabyte GTX 460 1GB in SLI
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ)
Corsair XMS3 8GB (4x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)
Some generic DVD-RW Drive and wi-fi card
6 BitFenix Spectres in black
Window 7 Professional 64-bit

EDIT: I've got a list of the mods I want to do to the case on page 2 so I thought I'd copy them to here.

I'm going with a black and white theme, as you'll see, for the case, although the components weren't bought with this theme in mind, so the blue motherboard etc will be unchanged. I want to do the following though:

  • Change the logo to white (done)
  • Change the mesh strips to white (done)
  • Put a stealth drive cover on the DVD drive (done)
  • Paint the top grill white. I did suggest to Bitfenix that they produce the top grill in colours like the did for the strip meshes, but they said no, basically
  • Replace the blue LED in the top with a white one (got them, just need to borrow a soldering iron from somewhere! if anyone is looking for these LEDS please let me know)
  • Paint all the fans white to go along with the theme
  • Possibly get a modular PSU and B&W sleeve all the cables. This would require selling my current PSU though and I'm not sure how far it will go towards the cost of a new one.
  • Replace the window so its square with rounded corners, making the interals of the build much more visible
  • Add some better lighting; the NZXT strip I have atm is a bit rubbish
  • Add case feet. I've bought some new ones because the feet provided with the case are adhesive and, consequently, ****. Changing them requires drilling holes for the screws, though, so this will also have to wait
  • Potentially water cool the build!
  • Potentially repaint the sides because they're a little scratched
  • Potentially paint the I/O panel because it annoys me that it's not black
  • Get an SSD (done)
  • Get a modular PSU so to tidy up.

I've also got a LG D2342P-PN - 23" and a smaller square Dell monitor. Razer Orochi mouse and Logitech MX5500 keyboard.

These modifications will come in drips and drabs to be honest.

Here is the project log for the first bit of the build:

IMG_1753.jpg


And the case looking cool:

IMG_1757.jpg


First look inside the case:

IMG_1758.jpg


First thing I did was remove the fan from the back and put the PSU in:

IMG_1764.jpg


Then installed the DVD-RW drive. This took me ages to install because I couldn't get the 3.5" adapter they'd put in there out...turns out you have to take the front of the case off first. Doh!:

IMG_1765.jpg


I then mounted a fan on top. This was to be changed later:

IMG_1768.jpg


The stunning motherboard:

IMG_1770.jpg


With RAM installed:

IMG_1771.jpg


I then put all that in the case. Going pretty well so far!

IMG_1772.jpg


Next step is quite large. I put in the HDD and connected up all the wires. I tried to fit a Corsair H50 in but the bracket wouldn't fit over the capacitors on my motherboard. Nothing I could really do about that unfortunately so I had to use the stock cooler:

IMG_1774.jpg


The cable management on the Shinobi is quite good, here's the back of the case looking untidy:

IMG_1775.jpg


And the front, tidied. Annoyingly, the power cable which powers the CPU wouldn't fit round the back. Is it possible to lengthen this myself? Also the USB 3.0 connector included with the motherboard goes right over the front of it.

IMG_1776.jpg


I plan to eventually replace the window with a larger and better one, without a fan grill on it. But here it is anyway:

IMG_1778.jpg


And finally the case in situ. Just installed Skype there as you can see!

IMG_1780.jpg


That's it as far as I can remember!

Thanks for reading,

Jonathon
 
Last edited:
Arg I wish I'd bought a modular one then!!

I will change the stock cooler. I tried t put an H50 on but the capacitors around the CPU mount meant that I couldn't put it on. I don't think there's really anyway round this unless I make a bracket of my own or cut holes in the current bracket.
 
Oh no. I don't know what I've done wrong then. Perhaps I'll give it another shot tonight. Basically though the mounting bracket was too low, the spacers weren't high enough...
Did yours go on really easily?

Do you even have to put the mounting bracket on?? The instructions say so but you haven't got one in your pictures as far as I can tell.

Thanks a lot for your help man
 
Jony27 said:
i think the intake should be placed at the front of the case as your going against the "heat rises" theory which probably lessens the cool air you take in, just saying.
Click to expand...

Ok cool. I was just about to ask that question. So I shall move that.

V F said:
Would the hoses reach down to the 2nd fan mount area at the front... that looks a really long way.
Click to expand...

They do indeed. there's another socket for the fan right at the bottom. It originally came with the fan down there and I had it plugged in but I thought it would be better at the top.

I'm getting great temperatures though. I'm yet to overclock it because I need to understand what's going on first; the overclocking thread is pretty long! But once I do I'll re-post the temps.

Here they are under load @ 3.4GHz (I set the BIOS to do it's automatic overclocking)

temps.png


Normally it runs at about 29C
 
Cheers guys :)

Hopefully in the next week or so I'll be making a few upgrades. Still saving up for a graphics card annoyingly!

I recently upgraded the wireless card as the one I had was rather old. I've filled even fan spot but now need a fan controller...that's another thing to buy! Still can't afford an SSD either and I want to put in a sound card.

In the next couple of weeks I'll be modding the window out, and also the logo, so I'll have some pics with updates then.

I've also recently installed an LED light strip which you'll see when I sort the window out...

Keep watching, stuff will eventually happen. I want this pc to be a beast, and I want it to look sweet!

Cheers,
Jono
 
Tokin said:
I really like this case,Just one thing that lets it dont it the grill on the window,But thats just my opinion.
Click to expand...

It is a nice case. I will, at some point, be replacing the whole window. The grill is terrible.

billysielu said:
nice work - especially as it's your first build.

the second will be pimp :)
Click to expand...

Haha thanks man. It's all a bit tidier now, though I still need a few more parts and an extender for the CPU power.
 
Mods for the future

So this isn't really getting moving again yet, but I'll be finishing uni this summer and consequently will have time to do the mods I want to on my Bitfenix Shinobi. I wanted to write down my plans for this case. I should have a tiny addition today and on Monday which are some small case mods.

I'm going with a black and white theme, as you'll see, for the case, although the components weren't bought with this theme in mind, so the blue motherboard etc will be unchanged. I want to do the following though:

  • Change the logo to white (done)
  • Change the mesh strips to white (done)
  • Put a stealth drive cover on the DVD drive (done)
  • Paint the top grill white. I did suggest to Bitfenix that they produce the top grill in colours like the did for the strip meshes, but they said no, basically
  • Replace the blue LED in the top with a white one (got them, just need to borrow a soldering iron from somewhere! if anyone is looking for these LEDS please let me know)
  • Paint all the fans white to go along with the theme
  • Possibly get a modular PSU and B&W sleeve all the cables. This would require selling my current PSU though and I'm not sure how far it will go towards the cost of a new one.
  • Replace the window so its square with rounded corners, making the interals of the build much more visible
  • Add some better lighting; the NZXT strip I have atm is a bit rubbish
  • Add case feet. I've bought some new ones because the feet provided with the case are adhesive and, consequently, ****. Changing them requires drilling holes for the screws, though, so this will also have to wait
  • Potentially water cool the build!
  • Potentially repaint the sides because they're a little scratched
  • Potentially paint the I/O panel because it annoys me that it's not black
  • Get an SSD (done)
  • Get a modular PSU so to tidy up.

I'll get a couple of pictures of the current state of it later, but really there's not much to see...I can't wait to get modding though! Trying to put in a double rad for watercooling could prove challenging. Note to self, buy a dremel!
 
Last edited:
As promised a couple of terrible pictures of the case as it is:

IMG_20120414_140825.jpg


IMG_20120414_140928.jpg


The white logo and mesh strips look fantastic! Really good quality and much nicer than the originals. I can't wait to do that top grill... do you think it'll be better with or without it done?
 
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